The present invention relates to a mirror-following imaging method and device for following an object to be inspected being carried by conveying means to be incident on imaging means so as to image the object in a frame.
It is necessary to inspect for defects glass bottles, as of liquors, beverages, foods, etc., whether they are fresh from glass forming machines or are used. Conventionally, for the inspection of such bottles for defects, a bottle to be inspected is mounted on an inspection table by handling means to be imaged by a mirror rotated synchronously with a motion of the table; the images of the bottle are received by a stationary imaging means; and the inspected bottle is dismounted from the table.
Thus, the conventional inspection needs special bottle tables for the inspection, and special handling means for mounting and dismounting the bottles on and from the tables. As a resultant problem, this adds to the costs.
To solve this problem, it is desirable to inspect such bottles rotated on conveyors by means of, e.g., a belt, without the inspection tables.
But a problem with this desirable inspection of the bottles on conveyors is that because the conveying speed of the bottles and the interval between the bottles change at random, the mirror which is simply rotated synchronously with the conveyor cannot correctly follow motions of the bottles.